Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art

A New Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

On Monday morning I went to a press preview for a new textile exhibition that opened yesterday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art. Bringing together ancient Andean textiles and twentieth-century fibre arts, Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art seeks to illustrate the close connections between these material histories. The work of four modern female fibre artists—Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, and Olga de Amaral—fills the second room, all of whom whose ideas and methods were informed in some way by Andean textiles. As the curators, Iria Candela and Joanne Pillsbury, write in the opening panel, the juxtaposition between the two bodies of work “offers insights into the emergence of abstract imagery via a shared awareness of the integral connection between structure and design in the textile medium.” They continue to say that “At its heart, Weaving Abstraction is about the aesthetic and cultural choices artists make, and how the technologies of fiber arts themselves can give rise to striking, innovative compositions.”

At left, Wari artist, Peru, “Tunic,” 7th-9th century. At right, Sheila Hicks, “The Principle Wife,” ca. 1965.

Paracas artist, Peru, “Border fragment with figures,” 5th-2nd century BCE.

The Andean textiles—mostly Incan but some going back two thousand years—are a revelation. The quality of the work, the vibrancy of the dyes, and the skilled pattern design warrant a visit just in themselves.